


Two Tables for One

by Synergetic_Prose



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Modern AU, kind of like the coffee shop au but in a restaurant i guess, strangers to friends to dating, two strangers meeting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-19 06:54:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29622339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Synergetic_Prose/pseuds/Synergetic_Prose
Summary: Two strangers start the tradition of meeting up at a restaurant but at two separate tables, divided by a partition. And no, Allura has yet to see her stranger's face but she likes the mystery too much to discover who it is right away.
Relationships: Allura/Shiro (Voltron), Shallura
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I don't plan for this to be long (famous last words) but I mean it this time! Altea and the other planets in voltron are countries in this au. It's just a low key story full of good times, good food, and fluff.

Allura felt her smile straining as her date excused himself to take a call.

“I’ll order some appetizers,” she half waved and smiled, like she would at a beauty pageant or a tough crowd of academics. “Take your time.”

The guy nervously laughed and gave her a sloppy wave as he rounded the corner back towards the entrance. Their server was still there at the table with a sympathetic look. Allura pointedly looked at the glowing blue holo-menu floating above the center of the table. They meant well but it only made her feel worse. Her finger flicked down.

“We’ll take a bottle of nunvil and a plate of goozne. The green type.”

“Alright. Want me to delay putting it in for ten doboshes?”

Allura pursed her lips. “No, you can just submit the order.”

“Sure.”

The server left. Allura’s shoulders slumped a little. Her phone pinged. She only took it out because she was alone. She sighed as she read Veronica’s inquiring text. She had finally decided to give her friend’s brother a try and their first date was less than impressive, what with him retreating away from their server after boldly declaring that he was fluent in Altean and didn’t need any help reading the menu. She honestly wouldn’t have mind explaining some dishes but the bravado was definitely off putting. What in the world was she supposed to say? Her sparkly nails tapped on the screen as she half assed the response.

“Damn.”

She looked up. Lance wasn’t back nor the server. So then who...?

“Sorry, that was loud.”

She looked behind her to the painted partition separating her and the mystery voice at another table on the other side. “It’s alright,” she ventured, not exactly sure if the person was addressing her. She was going to leave it at that but now she was curious and frankly bored. “Everything fine on your side?”

The voice chuckled. “Define fine.” There was some crunching as they munched on something. “My date’s going on an hour late.”

“Oh dear. That’s not fine.”

“Eh. I have a drink and appetizers. Could be worse.”

“That’s true.” She half smiled. “You could be waiting outside in the middle of a snowstorm.”

“Ouch,” the person laughed. “Here I was thinking having nothing to snack on but you went for the throat.”

She smiled with her teeth showing even though they couldn’t see her. “I tend to do that when the occasion calls for it.”

“And what occasion is this?”

“Banter with a stranger I’ll most likely not see again,” she casually said while looking at her nails.

“Ahh. Zero stakes.”

“Exactly.”

“Though, to be fair, you’ve still not seen me.”

She swirled her water glass. “What did you order?” She didn’t even pretend to avoid what they said. She wasn’t ready for the mystery to be solved.

“The Olkarion-Altean cheese board.”

“Mmm,” she felt her mouth water, “that’s a good one. Does it have the sapphire honeycomb?”

“Yup.”

She heard a shifting. She opened her mouth to retort, to prevent them from coming over, but it was just a plate being offered along the end of the divider. “Are you sure? What about for your date?”

“There’s plenty.”

She saw a black thumb ring, neatly trimmed nail, and tanned skin. She took the plate with a soft thanks and lifted it up under her nose. The crumbly cheese was pungent on the slice of toasted bread but mixed with the liquid blue honey it created that pleasant tickling in her nose.

“It smells as good as I remember.” She took a bite and couldn’t resist the happy wiggle in her seat. “Gods, I need to eat this more often.”

“I need to order it less,” there was a patting - presumably their stomach. “Hey, we should swap.”

“Deal.”

“Takashi?”

She sat up as a new voice came from the other side. So that’s what her stranger’s name was. Their date started apologizing, listing off what went wrong, the traffic, lack of parking. Allura lightly rolled her eyes. They could do better. There was a chair being pushed back.

“It’s fine, shit happens. And please, just Shiro is fine. Take a seat.”

He said ‘fine’ twice in a row. She made a sound at the back of her throat as she bit into the honeycomb. She was telling herself she wasn’t eavesdropping when Lance returned to the table. She straightened up and quickly stopped licking the honey from her fingertips.

“Lance.” She put on a smile. “You’re just in time. Our appetizers should be - “

“Ah, Allura wait. Sorry.” He scratched the back of his neck and gave a nervous smile. “I need to go babysit my niece and nephew. No one else is around.”

“Oh. Yes, of course. Family first.”

He let out a relieved breath. “Thanks Allura! You’re the best.” He winked and clicked his tongue. “See ya around princess.”

She shook her head at the old nickname. It caught when they first met at a Halloween party in the dress of a princess from Altean legends. She waved as he fast walked away. There was another ping. Allura looked at her phone to see a picture of Veronica with a little boy and a girl, the caption ‘babysitting duty.’ She huffed and turned off her phone. He didn’t have to lie. If he wasn’t into the date he could have just said so. She puffed at a stray curl in her face. Roni did warn her that Lance might not be at the level of maturity she was looking for. The server came up to the table with the drinks and apps. Allura asked her to give it to the table behind her, to a “Shiro” and his date. Hopefully their date was going better.

She left money on the table, took a look at the partition and then went on her way.


	2. Chapter 2

It was only Wednesday and Allura was so done with the work week.

She got her usual table at Coran’s restaurant in downtown Little Altea. Tiredly she pulled the second chair closer to her with her foot and heavily sighed as she plopped down on her chair. She tossed her purse on the empty chair and started pulling the hair tie out. Tavo came over and crossed his arms. He quirked a brow as she fussed with her curly hair.

“The usual?”

She sighed as her hair was freed from the tight bun. “Make it a double.”

He let out a soft hum and walked over to the bar. She tucked her hair tie into her jean pockets. There were too many hairs hanging off of it for her to wear it around her wrist. All she wanted was to tip back a couple of drinks and get a nibble of some comfort food that only Coran’s place could pull off. She shrugged out of her pale pink cardigan and leaned back. Under the table she slipped her matching heels off and put her feet on top of them.

“So I guess I shouldn’t ask about your day then.”

She twitched from the sudden voice before a slow smile appeared on her face. “I wondered if I’d run into you again.”

The mystery voice aka Shiro let out a chuckle from the other side of the partition. “I’m addicted to good food. Plus, I can’t cook for shit except for ramen and mac and cheese from a box.” He paused and then added, “And scrambled eggs. Only scrambled.”

“That’s a pity.” She bit her lip a little. “I like poached.”

“Well for you, I might need to learn how to do poached.”

“How perfectly scandalous.” Her smile curved. “What would your boyfriend think?”

“Oh, that was just a one time date.”

“One time as it didn’t work out or...”

His chair shifted closer to the partition. “You wanna finish that sentence or is it as scandalous as I think it was going to be?”

“Oh my!” she put a hand to her cheek in mock shock. “What sort of girl do you take me for?”

He let out a short bark of laughter. “You don’t want me to answer that.”

“Are you always this forward?”

“Do you always tell strangers how you like your eggs?” He easily shot back.

“Allura.”

She had been leaning backwards in her chair subconsciously to better hear his lowered voice. When Tavo appeared suddenly with drink in hand and calling her name she gave a small jump, tipping the chair over. She let out an undignified yelp as she knocked into the partition. It was one of those decorative screens with intricately painted juniberries. She felt hands around her, having caught her before she fell over the partition. She kept her eyes squeezed shut but she could still feel his arms andhis breath along the top of her head. He was comfortably warm like her favorite throw blanket.

“You alright?” He asked.

“Yes. Thank you.”

“You sure? You got your eyes shut tight.”

“I don’t want to see you.” She felt his body tense. “Not yet,” she quickly added.

“Oh.” He cleared his throat. “Was I not supposed to see you?”

“You weren’t but I goofed.” She huffed. “I’m being silly. I’ll just open my e-“

He put his hand over her eyes. “Not yet.”

“But you already-“

“Eyes tell me a lot. And I’m not ready to see what yours say.”

“Oh,” she repeated his response accidentally. “Ok.” She didn’t actually know what he meant exactly but he hadn’t questioned her about her decision.

“If you two are done...” Tavo cleared his throat pointedly.

“Hold on Allura.” If Shiro felt her shiver from hearing him say her name he didn’t indicate so. “Just walk this way around the partition.”

She blindly followed back into her seat. She could hear the partition go back up. His hands left her. She nearly pulled them back to her but refrained. She could still smell his cologne around her though. Something with a pleasant spice and citrus. Maybe the citrus was his soap from a shower? Her face flushed a little. This wasn’t normal, whatever this was...but she liked it.

“I’m on the other side.”

She opened her eyes and grabbed her drink. “Alright.”

“I, uh, actually have to go now. Hadn’t realized the time.”

Her shoulders dropped. “I see.”

“Maybe, uh, we could bump into each other Friday?”

“Same time?”

“Same time,” he decisively said.

Her smile returned. “I’d like that.”


	3. Chapter 3

Shiro was early but he hadn’t meant to be.

He got off his shift, showered, shaved, did his hair, switched dress shirts three times and brushed his teeth twice on accident. When he pulled up on his bike he realized he was earlier than he thought he was - which led to him making a tower of those wrapped butter packets with his complimentary bread and then playing Jenga with it against the owner. Shiro held his breath as he tapped, tapped, tapped -

“Ah-Ah!” Coran lightly smacked his hand in reprimand. “Only three taps allowed.”

“Since when?”

“Since now.” Coran rubbed the edge of his curled mustache. “You’re taking too long. I need to go soon.” He pulled his sleeve aside to see the wristwatch. “Is your date running late?”

“No, I’m the knucklehead that got here too early.” Shiro slid the piece of butter out. “And it’s not a date.”

Coran arched a brow. “Shiro, my boy, please tell me you didn’t say it was a ‘hang out.’”

“No, but even if I did, there’s nothing wrong with a hang out to get to know someone.” Shiro gestured to the leaning tower of butter. “You better make a move before it falls down.”

“Don’t you mean ‘butter’ make a move?” Coran chortled.

Shiro shook his head good naturedly. “We’re just two strangers enjoying each other’s company. What’s wrong with that?”

Coran made a sound as he tested a butter slice. “Absolutely nothing.” Shiro grabbed his cup for a sip. “I met Alfor that way.”

“Was he a friend?”

“Friend, confidante, lover - ahah!” Coran whipped out the butter, missing Shiro’s flat look. “Don’t look at me like that,” Coran wagged the butter slice in his face, “I’m only saying to not disregard opportunities, my boy.”

“She’s a friend,” Shiro stressed. “And it’s important to me to work on that aspect right now.” He looked at his prosthetic hand and flexed the fingers. “I can’t handle anything else.”

“But you were on a date a couple nights ago.”

“Yeah.”

Coran quirked a brow. “I don’t understand.”

“I don’t either. But it’s how I feel.”

A server came running over. “She’s here!”

Both Shiro and Coran moved. Shiro quickly dismantled the butter tower. Coran stood up and straightened his collar. He went off and was greeting someone. Shiro recognized Allura’s laugh as she walked over to her table. Coran said something else to her and then walked to the other side of the partition where Shiro was. His smile dropped to a flat line as he leaned over Shiro’s table. Shiro sat back to avoid getting a finger up his nose.

“You didn’t say it was Allura,” Coran whispered.

“I didn’t know you knew her,” Shiro quickly whispered back.

Allura called out to Coran. The man straightened and his jovial smile was back.

“Yes Junibee?” He called out her nickname.

Shiro couldn’t see her face but he heard her chair move a little. “Coran,” she sweetly said, “don’t pester my friend.”

A wide smile bloomed on Shiro’s face. From where Coran was standing, he could see both of their faces on either side of the partition. Coran’s face softened. He harrumph and leaned over to kiss Allura’s forehead.

“Of course not, Junibee.”

Coran walked away to put in an order of dessert for the two tables.


	4. Chapter 4

Allura’s laughter slowed as she picked up her glass of nunvil.

On the other side of the partition Shiro was still chuckling. She helped herself to half of the cheeseboard Shiro ordered and divided with her. This time it was the Arusian Altean board, with pink and purple butters made from the nuts of both countries, and of course some wild honey from the affectionately named “Sunrise Honeycombs,” having colors of the early sun and the tangy taste needed to wake up. She hummed softly as she bit into her morsel. Any weight gained from these meetups she’d happily take on.

“Alright,” Shiro spoke up. “I told you about my disastrous hiking trip and squirrels. Tell me something about you that people wouldn’t have guessed.”

She smiled. “I have pet mice.”

“What?”

“I even made an Insta for them.”

“Show me.”

She wiped the honey from her fingers and then pulled up her account. “Here’s the latest.” She stuck her arm out for him to take the sparkly pink phone. “And yes, those are their natural fur colors.” She spied his hand. This time she saw that the black thumb ring actually had white specks like stars.

“Oh wow! I didn’t know they came in those colors.” He chuckled. She smiled into her cup, recalling that she had posted a picture of Platt in a straw hat that morning. “Ok, they’re cute.” He handed the phone back. “This your balcony?”

“Yes.” Their fingers grazed. She nearly dropped her phone. To cover it up, she quickly added, “When people hear Altea, they think of nunvil, tech, and cats. The Altean mice are not well known.”

“Y-Yeah. I uh, thought you’d have a cat,” came his sheepish response. “But more in a personality kind of way, not uh...”

“Stereotypical?”

“Yeaaaah. I need to stop talking.”

She amusedly laughed. “I did almost get a cat,” she offered in consolation. “But my ex had an Altean cat and I just couldn’t stomach seeing one around the apartment again. Not now, anyways.” Her fingers ran along the rim of her glass. “Maybe in the future. They don’t terrorize mice like other cats do.”

“Well that’s good.” He paused briefly. “But I wouldn’t push yourself to get one if you don’t really want one.”

She let out a sound, neither in agreement or disapproval. “I don’t do anything I don’t want to.”

He good naturedly laughed. “Yeah, I can see that.”

“Do you have any pets?”

“Yeah.” She could almost see the grin. “A black cat.”

“I’m surprised. I would have thought you’d have a dog.”

He shrugged but she couldn’t see. “I did want a dog but then I found Onyx in the bushes.” He tapped on his space phone then reached out for her to grab it. “That’s when I first found her. My lock screen has her nowadays.”

“She was so little!” She made a sympathetic tut. She pressed the side button and smiled at the lockscreen. The mangy fur and hissing kitten was replaced with a sleek furred cat majestically sunbathing on a desk. “Her eyes almost look violet in the sun.”

“I know, right?”

“She’s lucky to have you.”

“I’m lucky to have found her,” he murmured wistfully.

She handed his phone back. When he had a grip on it she moved her fingers to lightly squeeze his hand. He didn’t pull out of it until her fingers dropped. He cleared his throat and grabbed his glass.

“You can text me more pics of Onyx if you want.”

“I don’t have your number.”

“Don’t you?”

Curious, he checked his contacts. “You sneak.”

She grinned into her glass.


End file.
